The Eternal Question
by VisualIDentificationZeta
Summary: CamVala SUMMARY: Vala is bored and a bored Vala is... well, you get the picture. And stumbling upon our favorite Lt Colonel and a friend of his discussing something is definitely not something she'd turn down in her search for entertainment. . . COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: The Eternal Question

AUTHOR: Vid Z.

PAIRING: Cam/Vala

SEASON: 9 before her residency in the Ori galaxy

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc of the TV show Stargate: SG-1 are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fic. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTES #1: I'm not sure about this characterization of Vala. I tried to write her in character by being flirty and a newbie on Earth (this takes place soon after she joins SG-1), but I'm worried that I made her into an airhead instead, which is the last thing I ever wanted. All input would be greatly appreciated!

AUTHOR'S NOTES #2: okay, can anyone name me a shiny, black material? Perhaps a stone or a mineral. I know I've seen it somewhere used as a metaphor for skin tone before, but can't remember it. I'm trying to use it as a metaphor for Vala's hair colour, but coming up empty. Please help!

AUTHOR'S NOTES #3: should I bother writing a sequel?

SUMMARY: Vala is bored and a bored Vala is... well, you get the picure. And stumbling upon our favorite Lt Colonel and a friend of his discussing something is definitely not something she'd turn down in her search for entertainment.

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Bored out of her lovely head Vala walked into the commissary, looking for entertainment.

She had already exploited the two out of three possible sources of amusement, with Daniel having thrown her out of her office at her harrassment (he swore she was worse than Jack when bored and only feared the time she'd meet the man -- together they'd be an unbeatable horror) and, since Muscles was meditating, there was only one other person who could provide her with some stimulus.

She really _had _been born under the lucky star, for there he was, one Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell.

He was sitting at a corner table, talking to a man she vaguely recognized, a fellow Lt Col.

Nearing their table she remembered the man's name was Michael Griff, SG-2's team leader.

Moving silently, neither man was aware of her until she pushed a chair to Cam's, plopped herself down on it and in her usual coy manner draped herself all over her team leader.

Slinging her arm around Cam's shoulders she purposefully ignored how he stiffened at her action. It was hard to be a tough, intimidating, commanding Colonel if you had your direct subordinates draping themselves all over you and nuzzling your neck, sniffing at it like a lover. Kinda hard to get respect from junior officers if they saw other subordinates act like that towards you, with that kind of familiarity, ease and comfortability.

On the other side of the table Griff couldn't contain his amusement at his newest friend's plight.

"What do you have there, Darling?" she purred into Cam's ear, while simultaneously reaching out for the colourful piece of glossy paper. Cam pulled it away from her, but Vala, in a move quicker than he thought she was capable of, grabbed for it and pressed it to her chest with a victorious smirk. Sometimes he forgot she was a master thief.

Moving away from him slightly, but not so far that she would no longer disconcert him with her physical nearness, she snuck a peak at her prize.

Then gave it back to him when she realized it was full of Latin alphabet, which she unfortunately (or fortunately, depends on who you asked) didn't know how to read yet. She was working on learning it though... And then, watch out world!

"What does it say?" she asked, pouting slightly, something that made Cam quite uncomfortable.

No woman should have such full lips or such alluring eyes and especially not a woman who liked to play with innocent, hapless men. Men like Cameron Mitchell.

Cam was definitely not inexperienced when it came to women, but around Vala he felt like a nerdy virgin school boy talking to his crush, the school beauty queen. She was in a whole other league, flirting wise, had a couple of hundred years of experience on him, thanks to her time as a Goa'uld host. Perhaps it was her sexual aggressiveness or just that she was more of a player than any man he had ever met.

Vala was however clearly of the "play with 'em, seduce 'em and then leave 'em" type.

Defiantly he glared at her, which to his chagrin only made her cheshire cat smile wider. "It's a flyer for a car show."

"Car?" she tried, the weird word almost breaking her tongue.

"Yeah." put in Griff. "It's a wheeled land vehicle."

Vala wrinkled her nose. "Oh, you mean those smelly, fuel extremely inefficient, heavily polluting, backward, without any advanced safety features and extremely dangerous, things that you use for personal transport and which will eventually destroy your planet's ozone layer and air?"

There was a silence as the two men stared at her silently. Well, that was one way of putting it. And a damn accurate way, if one was brutally honest about the Tau'ri way of transportation.

"Yeah." finally drawled Cam, still dumbfounded.

Deciding to divert from that not-so-happy direction of the topic Griff asked Cam. "What's your's anyway, Mitchell, I only saw it briefly."

Cam smiled proudly. "It's a 1968 GT390 Forest-Green Mustang Fastback."

Griff whistled. "Nice ride. Didn't McQueen drive one like that in that movie... what's it called?"

"Bullit." the young Lt Col nodded. "It's actually the same series as the two used for that movie. One of them was destroyed during filming. I got this one from the original owner who felt too old to still drive it so he sold it."

"Bull-it?" interrupted Vala, trying out the new words. "Mack Quinn?" she frowned. If it was one thing Vala hated was not knowing things. Especially when it was the things people were talking about around her.

Griff, smirking, glanced at Vala then slid his eyes back to Cam again. "Oh, Mitchell, what the hell are you doing with your team? You should educate them a little." Cam had the grace to look ashamed at this failure as a team leader. "Do a movie night with Vala here and show her all the classics. I'm sure you have at least Bullit in your collection. After all, you have the car... the DVD of the movie is then requisite for you." He locked eyes with Vala and raised his eyebrows questioningly, wanting to know what she thought of the idea.

"Oh, that's a great idea." enthused Vala "Can't wait for it, Darling." she beamed at Cam who looked conflicted.

He didn't know whether to be excited or scared to death at the prospect of sharing an evening with Vala. And in the dark at that.

But trust Vala to get the conversation back on track to find out what she'd wanted to know in the firt place. And so she asked the eternal question many a woman had asked their friends, brothers, generally the men in their lives. "You still haven't explained to me why you'd go to this 'car show' in the first place."

"There's lots to see at a car show." started Cam.

"Mainly cars." put in Griff, still amused.

"Why would you want to look at cars?" This certainly interested Vala.

Why would one want to pay just to look at smelly hunks of metal when you can just take a seat by the road and do the same for free? And see even more cars than at a car show...

"It..." Cam started then faltered. How do you explain the fascination of cars to someone who not only does not feel it, but is also from outer space?

"So, you pay to look at these 'cars'?" Vala thought it was best to check just to make sure. Tau'ri were strange creatures indeed and she didn't want to jump to any conclusions. Especially not when her assumption made Tau'ri look like the weirdest beings in the universe.

"And women." Griff put in, enjoying himself immesurably.

"Yeah." Cam quickly joined, happy to get off the topic that was making Vala look strangely at him. Strangely, namely, as if she was rethinking her membership in his little band of superheroes and of Earth.

Cam's relief lasted only until Vala's response to the newest information.

"Women?" Vala repeated stiltedly, her mouth and the skin around her eyes tightening and her body going stiff. Even though she hadn't pulled away physically he could tell she had in other ways.

Griff, not sure exactly what was going on, decided to be helpful in trying to make the alien understand human culture. But for some reason he had the mental image of him and Cam digging Cam a grave.

"Yeah, the hostesses at the car show."

Which explained exactly nothing to Vala...

"What are these 'hostesses'?" Vala had tilted her head and was staring at Griff intensely, for all intent and purpose ignoring Cam completely. Had Vala been an Earth woman Griff would think she was freezing Cam out, like a girlfriend freezing her boyfriend out, out of jealousy. But Vala wasn't, so what was going on?

Cam, for all the oblivious male he was, had noticed signs of danger, no matter how the sole existence of it puzzled him, and had decided to keep his mouth shut lest he dig himself in deeper.

Griff explained hesitantly, yet knowing no other way to say it better. "They are women hired to help promote cars or bikes or other vehicles at a show. Basically they're hired to either sit inside them or stand by the cars to attract potential customers or just gawkers."

Okay, for some reason his honest explanation had made the situation even worse. By now Griff was seriously concerned over Vala's behaviour and for Cam's health and safety. Everybody knew she was after Daniel, right? And thus everybody knew she and Cam weren't a couple. So what was going on?

There was only one way Vala could think of, for these 'hostesses' to achieve that. "And these 'hostesses' are beautiful?"

Cam, lost in the memory of a particular one, tall, leggy, slim and buxom, had forgotten who he was talking to and whistled quietly, adding a lecherous "Oh yeah."

Then shrunk back when he caught Vala's death glare, while Griff winced sympathetically.

'Why would he go to look at other women, even pay for it, when he has _me _to look at?' wondered Vala 'None of those women can compare to me. Or can they? Am I not beautiful enough to hold his interest?'

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	2. Chapter 2

Thank you all for your reviews and your help with the word.

Lt Col Michael Griff of SG-2 was first introduced to SG-1 in year 2000 (I think it was the firefly ep where they also introduced Jennifer Hailey) and so is a long time member of the SGC. He's a canon figure, not a character I made up.

Just a question: did I dream it or was there really a scene with Vala wearing some wide leather strap instead of a bra in one ep. And if that actually happened... where can I get screenshots of her wearing that?

Thanks for the reviews and keep it up!

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If there was one thing that was important to Vala it was her looks and attractiveness to men. After all, distracting them with her body and her sex appeal was an important part of her work. How could she rob them any other way if she didn't distract them?

For the first time in her life was Vala feeling the kind of belonging as she felt with SG-1 and thus considered the guys on the team _her guys._

At first she had been jealous and felt competitive of the other woman on the team, but when she'd noticed Sam had absolutely no interest in any of the three men (or men in general, noticed Vala with puzzlement) Vala had been relieved and gotten to work.

She'd categorized the guys into three boxes:

a) Muscles was someone who was helpful in intimidating people with just his presence and was thus a good preventive bodyguard.

b) Jackson was someone she could entertain herself with, by harrassing him and trying to get an annoyed rise out of him. He rarely failed to provide her amusement. And while she had at first considered him for a sexual partner, she'd soon found out he was too rude, too hurtful and too mean, insulting to her for her to even want him as a sexual, much less romantic partner. She was no masochist. The fact was, Daniel Jackson was abusive. Emotionally and verbally and no woman in her right mind would want a man who treated her like Daniel treated Vala. Like shit. Thus Muscles and Daniel presented no interest as potential sexual partners to Vala.

c) As for Mitchell... Mitchell was the Alpha Male of the pack.

Had Muscles not been on the team Teal'c would've been an alpha too, yet he had willingly taken the place of the beta, something that had surprised Vala when she'd first realized it.

From what she'd heard, General O'Neill was the one whom Teal'c had betrayed his god for, sworn allegiance to and for whom Teal'c had taken the Beta position. She had not yet met the man (and she wanted to, if just to see what it took to inspire Teal'c to do such a thing and then follow him for years), but the fact that he had inspired in Teal'c such loyalty and belief in O'Neill's competence and skill for Teal'c to betray his god and free the Tau'ri, killing his own subordinates in the process, said a lot about O'Neill. And when O'Neill had left and Mitchell arrived Teal'c had taken his old place, the one he was used to and the one he was damn good at.

Mainly providing backup for the team leader and helping the leader look after his team. Well, most of the times. Daniel still managed to get himself killed on a regular basis.

But that was something Vala was sure would never change. Until Daniel died for real, of course, which would probably be very soon because she was sure the Ascended were getting mightily fed up with him and there would come a time they wouldn't let him ascend.

He could really try a person's patience...

Vala saw Mitchell in a different way than she saw the other guys, whom she only saw platonically. Mitchell was the Alpha Male of the pack and the status of Alpha Male alone has many women attracted to such men. But there was more.

Mitchell was the Alpha of the pack Vala was on and since she considered herself the Alpha female and since Carter showed no interest in guys (which was puzzling to Vala, since from what she'd heard Carter had been in an awfully big hurry to get married just a few months before, to a guy she didn't really know, in a hurry big enough to dump the guy who'd loved her for years because she couldn't wait for the "normal life". She resolved to get the blond woman out of her shell, otherwise Sam would die an old maid, alone and lonely, without any family.), Vala considered Mitchell _her_ territory.

Because he was the Alpha, Vala believed he should be interested only in the females of his own pack, not look at others, and since the only female who showed interest in things other than doohickeys was Vala, he would thus have to be interested only in _her_.

And because the Alpha has the right to all the females in the pack (among wolves; while among silverback Gorillas there is only one adult male and all the adult females in the pack are all his wives and also mothers of his offspring) and since she knew Cam saw Sam as only a friend, then Vala belonged to him, something she thought logical and self-understood. And since she was the only female, and she didn't see the other males sexually, then _he _belonged to _her _in return.

Mitchell was _hers_ and that he would go elsewhere, even pay to look at other women, was unthinkable and unacceptable to Vala. If he should be looking at any woman he should be looking at _Vala_, not at airheads he didn't know.

What was worse was that with this Cam had made Vala doubt herself, her sex appeal, something she had always been completely sure of. Which is why she surreptetiously checked herself out.

'What could be wrong with me enough for Cam to rather look at other women? My boobs are still great, they're big and full, my body is still slim and just-right muscular, I've got an amazingly thin waist and even better hips and ass, not to mention my legs. My thighs could crack nuts. My belly is flat and muscular... Why would he want to look at other women instead of me?'

Vala knew she was jealous, there was no denial for this woman, she'd always been brutally honest with herself about everything, and she was justifiably jealous and angry, for _her_ leader was going to gawk and drool over someone other than her. That would just not do!

There was only one thing to do...

"I want to go with you."

Vala's simple declaration had Griff's eyebrows shooting up into his hair and Cam spluttering in surprise.

"What!?" he burst out and then glared at Griff, who was barely stiffling his chuckles.

"I want to go with you. I want to see what is so interesting to you." she shrugged nonchalantly. "Won't you take me with you, Darling?" She purred, running an enticing finger down his cheek.

Then she took out her most lethal weapon.

She pouted.

Heavily.

Now, Cam had seen women pout before in his life and he was immune to it.

But Vala took the pout to a whole new level. She'd literally made an art of it.

Her thick lower lip (all-natural and no sillicone or any other stuff in it, he'd noticed in the first hour he'd known her) stuck out, while big, sad gray eyes stared at him with such an expression of pleading and sadness that it tore at his heart. He groaned in misery, he hated it when women pulled such tricks.

'I'm not gonna give in.' he promised himself, repeating the mantra. 'I'm not gonna give in. I'm not gonna give in. I'm not gonna give in...'

He gave in.

"Okay, fine, you can come with me, I'll sort it out with the General." he yelled, ignoring Griff's outright laughter and the interested attention of others in the messhall. He was ready to do anything just to get her to stop looking at him that way. He dreaded the future, for now she knew she could get him to do anything she wanted by pulling that pout on him "We leave this Saturday at 0300, we've got a lot of road to cover before we get there. If you're not waiting for me topside at exactly 0300, then I'm leaving without you. And, remember, no picking pockets there or anywhere else!"

That was his last hope.

He knew how Vala was about her sleep. She would fall asleep and not even an earthquake would wake her up. She liked her sleep, called it her beauty sleep and because it was her beauty sleep it was the most important thing on the planet to her. Well, apart from treasures.

There was no way Vala would EVER wake up in the middle of the night for anything else than a watch shift.

But that expression on her face had him afraid and doubting his convictions.

--

Vala had known the second he'd given in. When he'd burst out his compliance she'd smiled triumphantly.

She would go with Cam to the car show and, if all went well, by the end of the day Cam would know whom he belonged to... to the Alpha Female of his pack.

In a very deliberate and symbolic gesture Vala confiscated Cam's glass, ignoring his protest, half-hearted though it was since by now he knew she always did whatever she wanted anyway, and took a slow sip, looking challegingly at other women in the room.

She hadn't been on Earth for long enough to know for sure whether this act had the same meaning as on her planet, but drinking from the same cup/glass/container was a pretty much universal symbol of possession, of a romantic affiliation. Well, except that on some planets it was more, on some planets it was a wedding ritual by itself. She hoped it wasn't that way on Earth too because it was too soon to be marrying Cam, though with all the Tau'ri oddities she wouldn't be surprised.

She could see her statement had been made by the clarity in the eyes of women in the room.

Since no woman rose to the challenge Vala put the glass down on the table again and rose from her seat, satisfied her public claim over Cam had been made without interference. Griff was looking at her astonished at her audacity for having just confiscated her CO's glass and drunk from it, while Cam was a picture of despair.

He'd concluded she'd set out to make a scene and along the way a fool of him. He was sure his authority had just suffered a heavy blow, with his subordinate acting this freely and possessively about him. He just hoped the fact that she was alien and was as such not even a civilian (since she officially didn't even exist) would mean something to Landry and stop him from taking disciplinary action towards him.

Then she, making sure she had his attention, left the room swinging her hips seductively.

When she was out of the room she sped up, heading towards her quarters, not wanting to lose any time.

She had to hurry, she namely had plans to make.

THE END

P.S.: does anyone but me find it curious that when Daniel and Sha're drank from the same cup on Abydos they were married, but when Jack and Sam drank from the same cup nothing happened? Oh, just how deeply in denial TPTB were... there were many occasions when J&S actually got married according to the customs of the local population, yet TPTB ignored it...

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